Author is guessing about everything except longer wheelbase and inside/roof rifle rack. He might be right, who knows

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The rifle rack has been mentioned before? I haven't heard anything like that seems kinda weird that Tesla should be worrying about rifle racks right now. You mean like something on the roof? I think I did hear that something to hold ski's.

The article makes sense for the most part, aside from the one page tangent about rifle racks and border patrols. If the Model X is in fact larger than the prototype and Model S, it will further remove it from consideration for me. I was already thinking it might be too much car for my needs, as I really just want a Model S with more head room and ground clearance. Ultimately it's probably a better market segment for Tesla to go after, and will make it easier to justify what I expect will be at least a $5-$10k premium over the Model S for an AWD version.

This article just comes off like a "wish list" from the author. The X prototypes have been well received. If anything, the MS has lost some sales from being too big and not fitting in some garages. How would people charge up an oversized Model X if it had to be parked on the street?

I don't know why people are crapping over this article. Does anyone have proof that the new information in the article is wrong? Mostly the article boils down to the Model X being larger, both in wheelbase and the rear hatch being more square than the prototypes we've seen.

I was at the battery swap demo a few weeks ago, and they had a model X out for preview. I was not impressed with it. The third row seat had too little legroom and the cargo space was impacted by the raked rear hatch, just as the model S is. If Tesla is planning on fixing these problems, I'm happy.

It does make sense for the model X to be bigger. If it is too similar to the model S, then what's the point? IMHO, Tesla should be trying to eventually make a truck, minivan, large SUV, small car, platform for commercial delivery vehicles, platform for RVs, etc, etc.

They are too small a company to be making 2 cars that are too similar to each other...

The rifle rack has been mentioned before? I haven't heard anything like that seems kinda weird that Tesla should be worrying about rifle racks right now. You mean like something on the roof? I think I did hear that something to hold ski's.

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Wink, wink, rifle rack. Longer wheelbase might be the interesting discussion point but doubtful for a 2014 launch.

There are a number of things about the article that don't work for me, but there's a core notion that I think they've got spot on (however the precise manifestation works out in practice). For whatever reason, Americans like big cars. Everything else being equal, bigger seems to be better. Most of the time, the problem is that as the car gets bigger, the fuel efficiency gets worse, and you have to make a conscious tradeoff for frequency and size of gas bill, for the car you want to drive.

Model X looks to me like the perfect no-compromises big car choice. AWD, lots of spacious seating, storage, and that other big car stuff. Then add in sports car like performance (at least the Performance version), good handling (low slung battery for low weight distribution), and you have a car that seems miraculous. I'm guessing that if Model S is at 89 MPGe, that Model X will come in around 80 MPGe. Regardless of whether you like that metric or not, it's one way of indicating that you can have a car that does everything you want AND be one of the half dozen or dozen most efficient vehicles on the road.

That's a ridiculous combination, and if all of that does prove out when the car ships, then I'm predicting now that within a year of introduction, Tesla will be selling / delivering more Model X's to the US than Model S.